Short-distance data links used for consumer electronics are reaching increasingly higher data rates, especially those used for video and data storage applications. Examples include the USB 3.0 protocol at 5 Gb/s, HDMI at 10 Gb/s and Thunderbolt™ at 10 Gb/s over two channels. At such high data rates, traditional copper cables have limited transmission distance and cable flexibility. For at least these reasons, optical fiber is emerging as an alternative to copper wire for accommodating the high data rates for the next generations of electronic devices such as consumer devices.
Unlike telecommunication applications that employ expensive, high-power edge-emitting lasers along with modulators, short-distance optical fiber links are based on low-cost, low-power, directly modulated light sources such as vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs). Optical-to-optical fiber optic connectors of optical cable assemblies pass optical signals to and from mated, aligned optical connectors, typically by use of lenses. To be viable for consumer electronics and other electronics, optical cable assemblies used to couple optical signals must be precisely aligned with lenses of the fiber optic connector, and the lenses of a first fiber optic connector must be precisely aligned with lenses of a second, mated optical connector. This requirement drives the need for the design of assemblies to be simple to manufacture while also having suitable performance. Accordingly, there is an unresolved need for fiber optic modules and connectors that simplify the alignment of optical fibers.